Unification Title Match Produces No Clear Winner for Jack or DeGale

Despite what you may have seen flying across the ring during the super-middleweight title unification match between Brit James DeGale and Swede Badou Jack earlier this week, DeGale didn’t lose a tooth during the fight.

“He didn’t actually knock out any teeth,” said DeGale. “Ten days before I was in Miami doing my last spar, and some geezer knocked it out. We put it back.” And then, out again. But no matter: the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons estimates that 69% of adults ages 35 to 44 have lost at least one permanent tooth. At 30 years old, this International Boxing Federation champion is just a little bit ahead of the curve.

Saturday’s fight between IBF champ DeGale and World Boxing Council title-holder Jack didn’t produce a clear winner. Two of the three ringside judges scored it at an even 113-113, while the third tipped it 114-112 in favor of DeGale. Nevertheless, the match at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, was full of drama, suspense, and knockouts on both sides.

“I’ve got huge respect for this man,” DeGale said of his opponent, “but I thought I won that. I landed the cleanest shots.”

Jack disagreed. “He was doing a lot of running, he was throwing a lot of s— at my guard,” he said. “I thought I won the fight. I finished stronger. His knockdown was a flash knockdown. I won the fight.”

Unfortunately, it seems like a rematch is out of the cards. Jack has now vacated his title and moved up to light-heavy class, where he’ll have to battle Canadian Adonis Stevenson for the WBC title — a belt Stevenson has held since 2013.

Not that DeGale wouldn’t be interested in another well-matched future fight.

“It felt like I was in a Rocky film, it was weird. In a sick way, I actually enjoyed it,” he said of the Saturday match. “I remember saying to my coach, ‘I’m looking forward to being in fights where I’m getting off the floor’.”